This girl came in to my office and said “hey, do you need extra help at your clinic because I finished my internship and they don’t need me as much anymore at Saddlebrook?

I told her “No, I don’t think I need you, but thanks.”

She came back again and again…and I finally told her, “you know, maybe I could use a little help cleaning the tables.”

One day she asked me “How do you work with these tennis players and travel with them?” and I said, “You have to be a physical therapist, because that’s what they want. Players want someone that can travel with them, that can work on them, rehab them, and that can help with all their strength training.” She said to me, “Okay. I am going to be a physical therapist. What does it take?”

She went back to school and did the prerequisites needed to apply to a PT program. Julie applied to University of South Florida, and guess what – she didn’t get in. Next year, she applied again – and got denied again. Then she applied to the University of St. Augustine – full time program.

Denied again.

Did she gave up? Nope.

You think she wanted to give up? Yeah, she did.

But she didn’t.

Julie applied again to University of St. Augustine’s hybrid program where it was half-online and traditional learning. On her fifth try of getting into school, Julie finally got in.

No giving up.

She passed her classes over the next four years and she got through it. She went to all of her internships and in duly fashion she nailed it. Every single one of her internships offered her a job right on the spot because they were like, “you are basically a ten year therapist.”

After finishing her internships and having multiple job offers, she decided that she wanted to come back to Renewal Rehab. She said to me that, “I want to finish what I started here!” So, I gave her a job offer and all we had to do was have her passed the board exam… simple right?

A year and a half ago, January of last year (2015), I offered her a job. She did her boards and we both thought it was a done deal. I actually put her on the schedule 2 weeks later…just waiting for her pass results and license to come in.

She failed her exam. Not once, not twice or 3 times…. but 4 times.

The entire team was devastated.

We came up with a plan. I told her, “of the jobs that you had, why don’t you get rid of this job here first and study like you have never studied before.” “You’re going to be a PT; you’re going to do this for the next thirty plus years.” “all you’re going to do is when you are going to that board exam and when you finish, you won’t have any regrets.” “twenty years from now, when you are not a PT, you are going to say ‘I have no regrets because I gave it everything I had.’”

She drove down to Miami to take her board exam. And on the final try, she passed her board exam with flying colors.

And that my friends, is NOT giving up.

The Key to Success is Perseverance!

You can call that perseverance.

That my friends, is reality.

If you want to hear the story about everything going perfect for everyone and you get these great opportunities and everything just works out perfect – go ahead and read a fairy tale book.

But reality is that. It might not be failing three times for you; it might not be getting rejected to school four times. It’s about not giving up. It’s about continuing to fight for yourself. It’s about getting knocked down over and over again, and getting your ass up and you keep on going. You might be dealing with a family issue, a job issue, a health issue… the fact is we all get knocked down. It’s about getting back up.

What we dreamed about eight and a half years ago, started in May 2016. Four of the first five months of her being our head PT, we have had record breaking months and she is thriving as a new grad!

I know she is going to be amazing because she doesn’t give up. Her patients aren’t going to give up. I know her story, I know that she is someone who has character.

If you got rejected from PT school, a friend or family member, you have a health issue, or if someone just passed away you don’t give up.